Dr. Robert Rutherford Ran Early Infertility Clinic

Robert N. Rutherford, who in the 1940s had one of Seattle's earliest infertility clinics, loved sailing as well as obstetrics and family planning.

So, in the days before pagers, he and his wife developed a way for him to enjoy his hobby even when on call: If he was out sailing and saw one diaper hung in the window of their Laurelhurst lakefront home, a patient had phoned.

Two diapers meant he was to return under full power because a birth was under way.

"We had to keep the house in sight," said Dr. Rutherford's son, David Rutherford, of Seattle.

"He did things with great consideration. His commitment to family planning spilled over into family and neighborhood life. My parents used to give sex-education talks and films at local schools."

Dr. Rutherford also found a way to explain the birth process to neighborhood children puzzled by his calls.

"Kids in our neighborhood lived in bathing suits from Memorial Day to Labor Day," his son said. "So when a patient called saying she was having contractions, and my friends didn't understand, he took a ballpoint pen and drew a woman's reproductive system on my bare stomach. The other kids loved it, and their parents were happy he had relieved them of the responsibility of explaining."

Dr. Rutherford died of heart failure Thursday (Feb. 19). He was 86.

Born in Olney, Ill., he earned his medical degree at Harvard Medical School in 1936 and did post-graduate work in Boston and Baltimore. When his wife was volunteering at one of the country's first family-planning clinics, Dr. Rutherford saw the hardships unplanned pregnancies caused families during the Depression. After he moved to Seattle in 1942, he saw families struggling with wartime jobs and rationing.

"We felt Seattle was heaven because we could say `family planning' right out loud," said his wife, Jean Rutherford, whose Boston clinic once was raided by police.

Dr. Rutherford worked at medical centers and ran family-planning and infertility clinics. He ran his first clinic in a church, the next behind a curtain in a laundry, and then one at his office on Broadway. He also taught at the University of Washington.

His father taught him patience, said his son, as well as to consider the consequences of one's actions.

"Dad never raised his voice, never got mad," his son said. "He was always a thinking guy."

Dr. Rutherford was executive editor of the journal Pacific Medicine and Surgery, and served in many medical groups, including Pacific Coast Fertility Society.

He retired in 1976, and traveled with his wife on cruise ships and aboard their sailboat.

Other survivors include his daughters Susan Betts, of Bellevue, Cricket Killen, of Ann Arbor, Mich., and nine grandchildren.

A reception will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday at Seattle Yacht Club, 1807 E. Hamlin St., Seattle. Donations may go to any charity.

Carole Beers' phone message number is 206-464-2391. Her e-mail address is: cbee-new@seatimes.com